Case Study

OP Properties

A digital marketing campaign that resulted in 70% of apartments being sold within 6 weeks in this carbon-neutral Fremantle development.

70 %

of the development sold within 6 weeks
5088 %

increase in leads

(compared to benchmark data)
3220 %

increase in traffic

(compared to benchmark data)

The Client

OP Properties is a boutique property developer based in Perth, with extensive experience in a range of small to large built form developments and construction projects across several sectors including retail, commercial, mixed-use, heritage, and multi-unit residential.

OP Properties partnered with us to market Montreal Commons, one of the first carbon-neutral developments in Australia and the first in Fremantle, WA. The apartments ranged from $425 – $700,000, presenting a unique offering with some clearly attractive selling points.

The Challenge

The first and most significant marketing challenge was the need to sell 70% of the apartments. It was at this stage that the development would enter the construction phase and the display suite was to become available.

To achieve this, an ad campaign strategy needed to be built to reach the right buyers and leverage the unique selling points of the development.

Upon commencement as digital partners on the project, the Montreal Commons website had already been built and the client was open to recommendations on how to improve it.

Objectives

Reach and engage buyers with genuine interest and search intent
Appeal to buyers leveraging the sustainable nature of the development
Creating an engaging and optimised digital experience

The Solution

The strategy for reaching the intended sales and time objectives started with the website. As the main conversion point, it needed to inform, engage, and convert.

To generate the required leads, digital marketing services, Facebook and Google Ads, were engaged. Through creative ad creation on Facebook, Instagram and Google, we were able to interest and engage each identified audience segment and prominently position the development’s unique selling points; affordability, sustainability and location.

We identified and leveraged these points with phrases including; Sustainable and affordable apartments in Fremantle, Low strata fees offset by being carbon neutral with lower maintenance costs, and emphasizing lifestyle and location advantages such as living close to the ocean and on the edge of Fremantle Golf Course.

Website optimisation recommendations

On the existing website, recommendations were made and implemented to improve lead capture and to ensure the key selling points being used in the advertising were prevalent and prominent in the various landing page site content.

Two messages that were emphasized included the development’s sustainability and carbon neutrality, and the relevant stage of the project. Two project phases were identified from a messaging perspective to drive interest before entering a FOMO stage, with ‘Pre-70% coming soon’ and ‘Post-70% construction started’.

A lead magnet was implemented for those wanting to download the brochure along with contact form improvements including more detailed segmentation to assist the sales team, to better inform our audience and messaging, and for the benefit of segmenting the database for future email marketing. The form improvements included adding the enquirer’s last name, whether they were interested as an investor or occupier, and whether they were interested in a 1,2 or 3 bedroom apartment.

The wording used on the site’s Call To Action buttons were optimised and recommendations on improving all-important mobile responsiveness were implemented for best user experience.

Outcomes

The key USPs used in the advertising were displayed prominently on the website.
The brochure download lead form was set up as a lead generation tool.
More useful data and segmentation was created for the benefit of the sales and marketing team.

Facebook Advertising + Remarketing

The campaign build was structured to allow for change and to be able to reallocate budget according to the success of individual campaigns and ad sets. The campaigns were built and segmented to target four audiences.

1. First home buyers
2. Upgraders
3. Downsizers
4. Investors

To reach these potential buyers, the ad types used included Lead Generation and Conversion ads, which ran alongside each other rather than in isolation. The Lead Generation ads facilitated lead capture whilst the user was still on Facebook, whereas the conversion ads led the user to convert on the website.

Within each ad type, a combination of single image ads, animated ads and render collages were used. The animated ads were used to promote the desirable location near the water and were outwardly attention grabbing. The render collages made it possible to feature combinations of apartment renders and lifestyle imagery, creating a sense of relatability.

In all cases, the creative was modified each fortnight, to ensure audiences were being presented with varying imagery. The ad messaging was specifically written to appeal to each audience segment, permitted by the applied campaign structure.

The ads focused on one or multiple unique selling points to appeal to the buyer and the ad set structure allowed the ability to analyse the impact of each, to be able to optimise the campaign for leads and cost per lead.

Throughout the campaign, each ad carried messaging with the percentage of apartments already sold as a secondary message and driver for action.

Montreal Commons Facebook Ads, designed to stand out

Outcomes

The Facebook Ad campaigns had the greatest impact in terms of generating leads.
Having identified key targets, the campaigns were then specifically tailored for each potential buyer.
Because the product was competitively priced for the FHB market, the attention-grabbing ad strategy improved click through rate and allowed the USP to be delivered to a larger audience.

Facebook Ad Examples — Montreal Commons Facebook Ads featuring collages of render and lifestyle images

Google Ads – Search & Display

To target those with genuine search intent in the Fremantle area, a series of targeted display and search Google Ads campaigns were built. These included a branded, a remarketing and a geo-targeted property-focused-keyword campaigns, which were set to be optimised by conversions made on the website.

Like the messaging approach taken in the Facebook campaign, the ‘coming soon’ and ‘construction started’ messaging was used on either side of the 70% of apartments being sold to create a sense of limited availability.

Once set up, and through continued review, an informed decision on budget optimisation was made which saw the media spend gradually move toward Facebook ads and Display remarketing, such was the impact of those campaigns for the market and relative price of the apartments.

Outcomes

• Geo targeted property focused keyword ads hit those who were specifically in-market
• Through continued review and optimisation, budget was able gradually moved for best Cost Per Acquisition

Nick Shinner

OP Properties

The response we managed to obtain through the digital marketing implemented by Living Online was essential in achieving the high level of sales success on the project. In fact I would say it was surprising even, both in terms of the quantity, but more importantly, the quality of the leads received. Plus backed up with great service.

The Result

The 70% sales target that was required for the project to enter the construction phase was reached within 6 weeks of advertising, and the implemented campaigns generated a huge amount of interest in the form of traffic and leads, for the Sales team to action.
This was ultimately achieved through a combination of creative and effective campaign strategy and continued review to optimise media and consulting spend.

By the four-month, the development project was at a stage where the digital advertising could be significantly reduced, and with the existing digital assets and campaign structure, the ads have continued being used in house by the client, to close out the final sales of the development.

If you want to see what our digital marketing company can do for you, reach out today.